Highlights from the Story and Lore Blizzard Livestream

Cinematic Project Director Terran Gregory and Senior Game Designer Steve Danuser will be leading the Story and Lore Blizzard livestream today!\r\r<iframe src="https:\/\/player.twitch.tv\/?autoplay=false&video=v361819740" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"><\/iframe><a href="https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/videos\/361819740?tt_content=text_link&tt_medium=vod_embed" style="padding:2px 0px 4px; display:block; width:345px; font-weight:normal; font-size:10px; text-decoration:underline;">Watch Story and Lore Developer Live Stream from Warcraft on www.twitch.tv<\/a>\r\rSo far in Patch 8.1 we've witnessed the Battle for Darkshore and story of the Night Warrior for the Alliance, as well as the continuation of Saurfang's story for the Horde. In a few weeks, the stakes will rise even higher with the Battle for Dazar'alor, featuring Jaina Proudmoore, King Rastakhan, Bwonsamdi, and High Tinker Mekkatorque.\r\rThis is not a Q&A, but we'll be recapping the highlights of the stream below!\r\rHighlights\r\rThere are multiple different ways to tell stories, once they decide what they want to tell. There are in-game quests but there are also cinematics which can be used in high equity moments.\r\rZandalar and Kul Tiran have been around for a very long time and are rich with lore, so they have Historians who help get all the details.\r\rJaina is one of the original canon characters from Warcraft III and it's been difficult to keep up with her story over so many years. BFA was an opportunity to solidify and re-highlight key aspects of her character through multiple mediums including quests and her Warbringer cinematic.\r\rThe Horde is a different story with Sylvanas, who is a new Warchief and Saurfang who has seen many things, fighting in many wars even before the first war. \r\rZekhan was already planned to be in the cinematic Old Soldier regardless of the community's reaction, but as they saw that the community latched on to Zekhan they were really excited! He represents the youthful element of the Horde.\r\rBwonsamdi had some lines back in 4.1 but they had a relatively clean slate. Bwonsamdi is a trickster -- a rare character archetype in Warcraft. Once the actor really digs in and takes the character, they started iterating Bwonsamdi around him. You should also expect to see more interactions with Talanji and Bwonsamdi in the future.\r\rThey used chapters in Battle for Azeroth which allowed them to focus more on each chapter of the story, compared to dumping it all at once.\r\rLegion was the first expansion end to not have a happy ending compared to previous expansions. It teased the next expansion's crisis.\r\rCataclysm was the first time they experimented with cutscenes. They used new cutscene vehicles to experiment with cutscenes and Uldum may have had too many cutscenes.\r\rThe Terror of Darkshore cinematic was revealed at BlizzCon and this was the first time that they used Malfurion in a cinematic. The goal was to revisit the classic Warcraft III night elves and remind players of their ferocity.\r\rAll the Night Elves have dark eyes when fighting for the Dark Side of Elune because of Tyrande. They also added Golden Eyes to Blood Elves so that players who want to play as a Light-Infused Blood Elf have the option to do so.\r\rPlayer choice: The Horde's story is pretty intense, with different perspectives on what it stands for. In 8.1, they allowed players to look at different perspectives of the Horde and react to it. They thought in this specific moment, it created a big opportunity to allow players who had a clear opinion on whether to support Sylvanas \/ Zekhan&Saurfang. But they also want to make sure that the choice is meaningful; whether she trusts you as a loyal subject or the possibility of her seeing through the ruse of Saurfang punching you in the eye. Player choice will only be used in a very specific scenarios which is makes sense and the choice is meaningful. \r\rTowards the end of the stream, there seemed to be hints of where the story was going in the future. \rTerran Gregory hinted at his shirt, which appears to be the symbol on Mekkatorque's mount\rThe faction battle will culminate in something big.\rTerran hinted at the "Old Cods".\r\rThey ended by talking about how "'when the last torch has been snuffed' and "last funeral pyre is lit," they hope Battle for Azeroth is remembered as a great story. While this could be a figure of speech, the phrases have some foreshadowing--Il'gynoth talks about "Five keys to open our way. Five torches to light our path" and "Old Soldier" opens with memories of Saurfang at his son's funeral pyre. Who do you think the funeral pyre refers to?

Comments

Comment by MsWeatherwax

on 2019-01-10T13:07:09-06:00

LOL\rAll they're talking about is the cinematics. Not even the writers care about the story lol

Comment by Skrauhg

on 2019-01-10T13:20:31-06:00

LOL\rAll they're talking about is the cinematics. Not even the writers care about the story lol\r\rThey stated at the start they'd talk about what they do and how they do things before getting to question. That gives players insight and thus how to better give feedback.

Comment by Wepstar

on 2019-01-10T13:21:00-06:00

Some story please.

Comment by Nulgar

on 2019-01-10T13:23:14-06:00

Ugh, I hate that you can't rewind on Twitch. I missed the start, and this is one I'd prefer to watch from beginning to end. So I'll rather wait for the VOD afterwards (or maybe tomorrow)

Comment by Nikanoru237

on 2019-01-10T13:28:32-06:00

LOL\rAll they're talking about is the cinematics. Not even the writers care about the story lol\r\rThe Cinematic Project Director talking about Cinematics? OMG BETA FOR AZEROTH EVERYTHING IS AWFUL WOW IS DYING

Comment by omedon666

on 2019-01-10T13:31:25-06:00

These guys are going to get roasted so hard for "nothing new."

Comment by Albaharmamar

on 2019-01-10T13:35:24-06:00

bleh, us who actually care about the direction of the story finally get something and it's this crap lol. Not like i really expected anything good though anyway

Comment by Wepstar

on 2019-01-10T13:38:34-06:00

I was waiting to get some answers like - "how many Night Elves were evacuated from Teldrassil", but instead they saying how IT development works? *spits*

Comment by BethofHearts

on 2019-01-10T13:42:43-06:00

Can someone ask why the story telling is so lazy and awful in BfA?

Comment by Nickname404

on 2019-01-10T13:42:59-06:00

>lore Q&A\r>nothing about lore questions\r\/applaud

Comment by dustinalex

on 2019-01-10T13:45:49-06:00

bleh, us who actually care about the direction of the story finally get something and it's this crap lol. Not like i really expected anything good though anyway

What were you expecting? Do you not care about the literary and story building devices they utilize, or the way they come up with the ideas they've built upon and brought to the player? I care about the story, and do not believe this is crap. It's quite refreshing to not have the same repetitive questions answered in yet another technical\/class dev stream. It's interesting to hear the developers talk about the way they've created the story and why they've gone in various directions, especially so as someone who enjoys the depth of the story. "Storytelling and Lore"

Comment by perculia

on 2019-01-10T13:46:30-06:00

>lore Q&A\r>nothing about lore questions\r\/applaud\r\rIt wasn't billed as a Lore Q&A, just a livestream. However, since every other developer livestream was a Q&A, Blizzard could have emphasized how this stream is different more strongly.

Comment by Silmafarion

on 2019-01-10T13:48:43-06:00

They added Golden Eyes to Blood Elves so that players who want to play as a Light-Infused Blood Elf have the option to do so.

So when do we get more faces with golden eyes than just the three we have now?

Comment by ytuncay5589

on 2019-01-10T13:56:31-06:00

>lore Q&A>nothing about lore questions\/applaud

It wasn't billed as a Lore Q&A, just a livestream. However, since every other developer livestream was a Q&A, Blizzard could have emphasized how this stream is different more strongly.

Please tell me you're kidding. Yeah no q&a but no delving into lore either. More like a commentary on what they've already said before.

https:\/\/pasteboard.co\/HVQmtzo.png

Comment by Ahndrumon

on 2019-01-10T14:01:51-06:00

Ok. One hour and learned nothing new, good thing I'm at work or it would have been a total waste.

Comment by RyukaiSan

on 2019-01-10T14:05:36-06:00

Terran hinted at the "Old Cods".\r\rHmmm... Very fishy....\r\r\rxD

Comment by maxilian

on 2019-01-10T14:12:23-06:00

>lore Q&A\r>nothing about lore questions\r\/applaud\r\rTo be fair, it was not supposed to be a Q&A, but... yeah, nothing really happened here, nothing was said, nothing was done.

Comment by Amnestic

on 2019-01-10T14:12:46-06:00

What a complete and utter waste of time. Zero new info, just patting each other on the back.

Comment by Dropbeats

on 2019-01-10T14:17:01-06:00

highlights what highlights this was a complete *!@# show also that final boss tv ad plug at the end what a joke.

Comment by Berronaxwins

on 2019-01-10T14:19:33-06:00

"Maybe next time we'll answer MORE questions"\r\rLOL you didn't answer any in the first place.